Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to (1) a method of detecting and communicating an alarm condition to a remote manned central monitoring station which takes appropriate action, including dispatching personnel and equipment to deal with the situation and its related apparatus, and more particularly, to a completely portable and wireless method of detecting and reporting a fire rekindle and summoning emergency crews, and even more particularly to such a method and apparatus which reports the fire and alerts the remote central monitoring station and the local fire dispatch using the control channel of a conventional nationwide cellular phone network
2. Discussion of Background and Prior Art
In a recent article by Gil Damiani, a battalion chief of the Mesa, Arizona Fire Department, entitled xe2x80x9cAn End To The Rekindle Nightmarexe2x80x9d, Firehouse, May 1999, the horror of a rekindle was accurately described. Chief Damiani related how an engine company responded to a kitchen fire at 1:30 P.M. Upon arrival the fire chief was told that the fire had been extinguished by the homeowner. The fire crew investigated. One member checked the attic and others checked the area around the fire. It was all clear with minimal damage. The crew returns to the station. Ten hours later, at about midnight, however, the Fire Department was again dispatched to the same address. This time, it was a fully involved attic. You had a rekindle!
As Chief Damiani pointed out, the fire service is always challenged to do its job effectively and efficiently. However, one shared concern among firefighters everywhere is the problem of rekindles.
Like many areas all over the country most of the newer homes in Mesa, Ariz. have vaulted ceilings that do not afford much room for firefighters to check for smoke or embers in attics. Id. However, there can be many other areas in a home, new or old, such as, recessed lighting fixtures, exhaust fans over stoves and chases around chimneys, to name just a few, that will also xe2x80x9chidexe2x80x9d embers and allow them to grow into a roaring wall or attic fire. Id.
Fires in concealed spaces present unique problems with overhaul because homeowners object to the damage to the home, such as pulling down vaulted ceilings or ripping out kitchen cabinets, caused by fire crews looking for burning embers so that the crew does not have to return at 3:00 A.M. Id. As Chief Damiani stated:
xe2x80x9cIt""s a Catch-22: completely open the walls and ceilings to thoroughly check, even though the fire appears out (this subjects the fire department to criticism by customers or insurance adjusters); or open them up only minimally and take the risk of a rekindle, even though the chances are remote that a rekindle will occur. If you have ever responded to a rekindle, you are well aware of the time, energy, resources, liability and embarrassment that comes with itxe2x80x94to say nothing of the hazards to life and property,xe2x80x9d. Id.
There is one alternative solution to the xe2x80x9cthorough checkxe2x80x9d versus xe2x80x9cminimal openingxe2x80x9d dichotomy presented by Chief Damiani particularly where the rekindle risk is in a commercial building. The Fire Department can post a fire watch at the location of the xe2x80x9cextinguishedxe2x80x9d fire comprising a fire watch person and fire truck parked at the scene for many hours to wait for a possible rekindle. This solution is obviously unsatisfactory due to the high costs in personnel and equipment.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to completely and inexpensively eliminate the rekindle problem by providing a completely portable and wireless fire alarm system that can be readily positioned in minutes for temporary use in homes or commercial buildings where rekindles are a risk.
The xe2x80x9crekindlexe2x80x9d problem described above is a close cousin to the xe2x80x9cintruderxe2x80x9d problem that has thwarted security system solutions for years despite advances in technology, as described in greater detail below.
Permanent Fire Alarm System Problem
As is often the case the permanent fire alarm system in a building is down for parts or maintenance. Almost universally, a commercial building cannot be occupied without a working fire alarm system unless a fire watch person is posted at the scene.
Similarly, a commercial building that does not have or does not yet have an installed permanent fire alarm system is often scheduled for use for a special event, but is declined a use permit since there is no permanently installed fire alarm system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to totally eliminate the temporarily inoperative or totally absent fire alarm system problem by providing a completely portable and wireless fire alarm system that can be readily positioned in minutes for temporary use in such buildings and which meets all fire code regulations and will be acceptable to the Fire Department.
There were many early solutions to the problems described above, but each was unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons.
In a system by Hall in U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,336 there is disclosed a portable intrusion detection, monitoring and alarm system housed in an ordinary carrying case resembling a conventional suitcase or briefcase providing a partially portable system readily placed near a space to be monitored. The wireless infrared motion intrusion detectors are removed from the case and placed about the space to be monitored and transmit a detection signal to a receiver in the carrying case which delivers the signal to a digital communicator/dialer which captures a land telephone line by dialing and sends coded signals to a monitored central station for corrective action. See also Papineau U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,799 and Steil U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,007. However, smart criminals know how to cut the land line to disable this alarm system and in the case of a fire alarm system an operative land phone line is often not available just when it is needed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to completely and inexpensively eliminate the unavailable land line problem by providing a completely portable and completely wireless fire alarm system that can be readily positioned in minutes for temporary use in homes or commercial buildings where land phone lines are not available or are inoperative.
Another early solution by Tanner in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,223 disclosed a combination portable alarm system and storage container for parts thereof for use at construction sites or the like wherein the portable smoke detectors were positioned on a stanchion supported atop a portable cabinet positioned in the space to be monitored and could transmit an alarm signal via a voice channel of a wireless cellular radio to an answering cellular station which then notified a central monitoring station. However, this system failed to provide both short and long range transmission capability necessary to efficiently handle the multi-various conditions of the problems referenced above, and also would totally fail to report the alert if the voice channel was busy.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to completely and inexpensively eliminate the short range and long range communications concerns of the aforesaid problems by providing a completely portable system with wireless short range transmitters for the detectors and companion devices and a long range wireless cellular transmitter for alerting the central monitoring station while avoiding any busy signal on the selected cellular channel and that can be readily positioned in minutes for temporary use in homes or commercial buildings where the aforesaid problems exist.
In yet another early solution by Hines to the xe2x80x9cclose cousin intruder problemxe2x80x9d described above in U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,735 there is disclosed a mobile security system including plural remote condition responsive sensor units (motion, intrusion, loop heat, water, etc.) which wirelessly transmit detection signals to a master control unit which receives the signals and transmits a signal to a remote alarm unit at the scene to sound an audible alarm or to alert a guard of the intruder""s presence or other sensed condition or can dial a phone number or activate a cellular phone to make a report. There is also a provision for a long range transmitter to send a signal to a remote second master control to report. While each unit of this system is contained in its own weatherproof housing, there is no disclosure or suggestion of a single carrying case that houses all of the units when not in use to provide a degree of portability not envisioned or achievable by Hines.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to completely and inexpensively eliminate the aforesaid problems of the this prior art by providing a single enclosure housing all of the components of the system when not in use thereby providing a completely portable and wireless fire alarm system that can be readily positioned in minutes for temporary in use homes or commercial buildings where rekindles are a risk.
Cellemetry(trademark) Control Channel Protocols
Recent systems by Hess in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,587,701, 5,777,551, and 5,850,180, focus on the close cousin xe2x80x9cintruderxe2x80x9d problem alluded to above but fail to suggest the important aspects and features of the present invention.
Hess first disclosed in Sep. 9,1994 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,701 a partially wireless, or voice channel wireless, short range/long range, cellular, intruder security system all self contained in a portable, shatterproof, shock resistant, polyurethane enclosure (""701 specification at 2:42-55) resembling an inconspicuous, unobtrusive, and innocuous-looking xe2x80x9cstereo/CD boom boxxe2x80x9d (""701 specification 2:29-41), and also requiring a programmable key pad as a user interface, in which wireless security contacts (motion, sliding contacts) placed at points of entry communicate detection signals short range to the receiver/controller in the portable enclosure which notifies a central monitoring station via a land telephone line, or a wireless 800 MHZ trunk frequency, or a conventional 900 MHZ cellular voice channel frequency.
Hess next disclosed on Sep. 23, 1996 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,551, while continuing to focus on the much less disciplined xe2x80x9cintruderxe2x80x9d problem, that the security contacts could include xe2x80x9ca smoke detectorxe2x80x9d (""701 specification at 1:40, but no discussion of detecting and reporting fires), and that his system is wireless, that is, the system requires no wires (i.e., wireless 1), and that the system is cellular (i.e., wireless 2) (""701 specification at 2:12-21).
Finally, Hess next disclosed on Jul. 2, 1997 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,180, while still focused on the xe2x80x9cintruderxe2x80x9d problem, that the cellular phone can initiate a call on a frequency of 900 MHZ over the control channel of the cellular phone system using Cellemetry(trademark) protocols (""180 specification at 7:13-8:63), and, in a single sentence devoted to fire detection, states that the detector""s actuating the receiver to contact the monitoring station complies with commercial fire code standards.(""180 specification at 6:27-29).
However, nowhere does Hess disclose or suggest (1) a highly disciplined fire alarm system, or (2) a key-pad-less system, or (3) the use of the more efficient MicroBurst(trademark) protocols in implementation of the control channel calls by the cellular phone when processing fire alarm signals enabling the suitcase to be instantaneously positioned any place in the United States and function properly without any reprogramming, or (4) the use of a rugged watertight, airtight case for fire detection applications.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to completely and inexpensively eliminate the aforesaid problems of the prior art by providing a single, nation-wide-roamable-without-reprogramming, rugged, watertight, airtight, enclosure housing all of the components of the system when not in use thereby providing a completely portable and wireless fire alarm system using MicroBurst(trademark) control channel protocols to report fire alarms without the need for a user interface and that can be readily positioned in minutes for temporary use in homes or commercial buildings and at other events where rekindles are a risk or temporary fire detection is a requirement but is unavailable.
Applicant hereby incorporates by reference all of the disclosures set forth in Hess U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,587,701, 5,777,551, and 5,850,180 in their entirety as if set forth verbatim herein.
Thus, there is not in the marketplace today, but there is a present need for, a nation-wide-roamable-without-reprogramming portable fire alarm system which includes in combination a plurality of multiple fire detection devices of various types, each independently positionable within a structure to be monitored and capable of making short range wireless transmissions of detection or alarm signals to a nearby portable receiver connected to a wireless long range cellular phone, all of the above when not in use installed in a rugged, watertight, portable suitcase and carried easily on a fire truck for deployment anytime temporary fire detection is needed, the cell phone transmitting the alert signal over the control channel of the cellular network, using the MicroBurst(trademark) protocols, to a remote, distant, central monitoring station which notifies the authorities.
Set forth below is a brief summary of the invention which achieves the foregoing and other objects and provides the foregoing and hereafter stated benefits and advantages in accordance with the structure, function and results of the present invention as embodied and broadly described herein. Applicant""s invention includes independently both the apparatus and the methods described herein which achieve the objects and benefits of the present invention. Both formats of the invention are described below, and it is applicant""s intention to claim both formats even though from time to time below for purposes of clarity and brevity applicant will use either one or the other format to describe various aspects and features of the invention.
The Portable Wireless Fire Alarm System is completely contained in a suitcase. It requires no wires to communicate with a Central Station and no wires for the remote smoke detectors, pull stations, heat detectors or water flow devices to communicate with the suitcase. When a temporally Fire Alarm reporting system is needed this portable system can be put into service in a matter of minutes. The system operates by placing wireless smoke detectors, pull stations, heat detectors, and water flow detectors in the building requiring temporary protection. The suitcase contains a radio transmitter that is designed to communicate with a Central Dispatch Station and a radio receiver that is designed to receive signals from the smoke detectors, pull stations etc. Any detector that senses a fire will immediately send a signal to the receiver in the suitcase which will in turn transmit a fire signal to the Central Station. The suitcase can be powered by A/C or run on its internal batteries or both. A top mounted, removable antenna, is also located on the suitcase.
The advantages of the present invention are numerous. The system
1. Is completely portable.
2. Is transportable in its own self contained suitcase.
3. Is easily transported on any fire truck or in the trunk of a supervisor""s vehicle.
4. Is readily put into service in minutes.
5. Can be easily placed in a structure immediately after a fire to immediately notify your Fire Dispatch of a rekindle.
6. Readily detects rekindles in structure fires, particularly in concealed spaces with difficult overhaul.
7. Is completely wireless in that both local and long distance alarm reporting can be effected without phone lines or A/C power.
8. Is completely wireless in the sense that all transmissions from the detectors to the final central monitoring station can be made by short range wireless radio (detector to carrying case receiver) and by long range wireless cellular control channel (carrying case cellular transceiver to nearest cellular site to the Mobile Switching Center (xe2x80x9cMSCxe2x80x9d) and/or to the Central Monitoring Station (xe2x80x9cCMSxe2x80x9d)) completely effecting reporting without using the phone lines, A/C power, or the Public Switching Telephone Network (xe2x80x9cPSTNxe2x80x9d).
9. Can be moved to any place in the continental United States and remain completely functional by detecting the fire and alerting its originally assigned central monitoring station without any reprogramming in mere seconds.
10. Does not require the Fire Department to buy any equipment to monitor the incoming alarm signals.
11. Charges its assigned central monitoring station only for the cellular calls it makes, completely eliminating regular fixed monthly charges at great savings.
12. Stores its smoke and heat detectors in its own case so that they are always available and ready for use.
13. Provide continuous protection in existing construction during permanent fire alarm system repair or remodeling.
14. Allows a business in new construction to temporarily occupy a building pending approval of the final fire detection system.
15. Can be used in a temporary structure for short term special events when otherwise a fully operational fire alarm system would normally be required.
16. Is expandable to 16 detection or companion devices.
17. Is easily displayed at civic events or in classroom setting for training and building good will.
18. Provides both safety and good public relations.